Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center Receives National Accreditation

Loma Linda University Medical Center - Murrieta announced that its Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center received national accreditation with the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS), a nonprofit international organization that serves as a primary source of scientific information for divers and hyperbaric medicine physiology. The voluntary accreditation program requires detailed data regarding the center’s hyperbaric medicine quality, safety, patient outcomes, policies and procedures. UHMS experts then complete an onsite survey to examine staffing, training, equipment installation, operation and maintenance, facility and patient safety, and standards of care. “Of the approximately 1,000 wound centers in the United States, less than 180 of those hyperbaric programs have achieved UHMS accreditation. Obtaining this recognition by UHMS demonstrates our focus on patient-clinician safety and quality care,” said Tracy Bock, Service Line Administrator. The Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center is located in the Professional Office Building, adjacent to Loma Linda University Medical Center – Murrieta, in suite 410. The center’s medical director, Yoshinobu Mifune, MD, ABPM/UHM, FAAFP, FACCWS, is board certified in Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine, Wound Care and Family Medicine. His excellent outcomes and patient satisfaction have been ranked among the top in the nation over the years. Doctors prescribe hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy as a medical treatment to enhance the body’s natural healing process. During hyperbaric oxygen therapy, a patient breathes 100% pure oxygen while inside a pressurized chamber. The air pressure inside a hyperbaric oxygen chamber is about two and a half times greater than the normal pressure in the atmosphere. This “hyperbaric” (or high pressure) dose of oxygen helps the blood carry more oxygen to organs and connective tissues to promote wound healing. HBO therapy also activates the white blood cells to fight infection. Patients with diabetic ulcers, poor circulation, peripheral artery disease, traumatic injury, and other chronic non-healing wounds have been shown to benefit from HBO therapy.